Mom Makes Her Son Walk Home on the Freeway in the Dark & We Get It!

We've all had those moments in parenthood where our kid has pushed us to the brink of insanity and we imagine breaking apart every one of those Matchbox cars and throwing them out the window in an adult-sized tantrum. Some of us may have even asked others if they would like to adopt that unbearable child for a day (or more) but in a kidding way of course. Kids give us so much joy and love and boogies wiped on our clothes but they also give us agita. And that's when we have to go inside ourselves and do a little breathe in, breathe out count to 10 slowly before we react sometimes. Or we can go too far. Such is the case of Angela Garcia who was arrested for kicking her son out of the car and making him walk home on a highway in the dark.

The League City, Texas, mom apparently got into an argument with her 10-year-old while driving. It was around 8:30 p.m. She pulled over. Forced him out. And told him to walk home on I-45. Not the best idea, but I still don't want to judge her for this.

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We are human. Even moms. All parents are. We may seem superhuman most of the time because we are able to bring a life into this world and keep it alive for that wild first year and then manage to pull ourselves together and juggle life and work and family and actually taking a shower most days. Alas we are human. We make mistakes.

It was reported that Garcia stuck around -- she didn't speed home leaving her kid in the dust. She drove about 300 feet ahead of her son, but because it was so dark out, the child had no idea his mom (and his brother who was inside the car) didn't just completely abandon him. He walked for 15 minutes before a passerby alerted the police.

League City Police Officer Reagan Pena told My Fox Houston, "Making your child walk home on I-45 at 8:30 at night in the dark, in a busy stretch where many fatalities have occurred, that is crossing the line. The freeway is not the place to teach your child a lesson." Fair enough. I agree. It's a dangerous place. But it happened. Garcia reacted in a way that we may have thought of reacting in similar circumstances.

There are moments I have in my everyday with my kids that if someone saw just that one moment in time, they would think I'm an awful mother. A terrible person. Snapshots. Seconds. We cannot judge. We don't know the full extent of what's going on, what went on. Sure, leaving your kid on a dark highway isn't a great idea. And I would guess that Garcia knows that. She probably feels awful about it. She probably regrets it. But haven't we all regretted something? Have we all done something we wish we didn't? Haven't we all made mistakes? Thing is, in parenting, it's like we aren't allowed to. The stakes are too high. Which makes the pressure more challenging, too.

The 34-year-old mom was charged with abandonment and endangering a child. Bond was set at $7,500. In this case, I think the mom learned a lesson -- and we can learn from it, too. But it's not just a lesson that we shouldn't force our kids out of the car and walk in the dark after we argue with them. It's not just about how we all need to slow down and really stop and think, especially in the most heated times. It has to do more with not judging other parents on one action. And learning ... from everything and everyone.

What do you think of this story? Have you ever been in a predicament with your kids and you felt judged by others? Have you ever felt what you assume this mom felt?